Ziff Davis will fold the IGN properties - including IGN.com, UGO.com, 1UP.com and AskMen.com - into its publishing portfolio, where they will join the likes of PCMAG.com, Geek.com and Toolbox.com.

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Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition will make Ziff one of the largest digital publishers across tech, video games and men's entertainment, with a network generating 53 million global monthly unique visitors.

The move will also boost Ziff's ability to attract advertisers, as all IGN's sites target the same 18- to 34-year-old male audience as its other brands, enabling it to do more combined deals. IGN is also strong in video content.

"This is a transformative deal for our digital media business," said Hemi Zucker, the chief executive of j2 Global.

"By combining two of the most storied organisations in tech, gaming and entertainment, we have created a very powerful company capable of producing and delivering content in all forms to an audience that marketers highly value."

"Alongside our local teams in the UK and Australia, we have developed a global network of expert publishing partners that deliver locally relevant content in 10 languages and over 40 countries.

"By combining our forces we will reach a greater audience of males 18-34 than ever before."

News Corp acquired IGN in September 2005 for $650 million. Earlier that same year, its chief executive Rupert Murdoch also spent $580 million to buy social network MySpace, which he later offloaded at a huge loss.

The sale of IGN Entertainment, which is headquartered in San Francisco and employs 400 people worldwide, comes as News Corp restructures its business to split the global publishing business from its film and television assets.

Last week, the company announced two senior management appointments for New News Corporation, the publishing division.

Anoushka Healy, currently group managing editor of The Times and Sunday Times in London, has been named chief strategy officer overseeing the strategic direction of New News Corp.

Will Lewis, the current group general manager of UK newspaper publisher News International, will act as chief creative officer, overseeing product launches, digital acquisitions and commercial opportunities.

They will both be based in New York and report to Robert Thomson, the chief executive of New News Corporation.